Northern Nigerian Islamic police, or Hisbah, in the state of Kano have arrested Muslims seen eating and drinking publicly, as well as those selling food at the start of Ramadan.
The BBC quotes the deputy commander of the Hisbah, Mujahid Aminudeen, as saying that 20 people had been arrested for not fasting and five for selling food, and that the operations would continue throughout the month, which began on Saturday.
Aminudeen said non-Muslims were not affected.
He told the BBC that some other individuals had also been arrested for having “inappropriate haircuts”, and wearing shorts above the knee, and, in the case of some tricycle drivers, mixing male and female passengers.
He is quoted as saying: “It’s heart-breaking that in such a holy month meant for fasting, adult Muslims would be seen eating and drinking publicly. We won’t condone that and that’s why we went out to make arrests.”
He said all 25 had been charged in a Sharia court and would be punished accordingly.
The Hisbah sometimes got tip-offs from the public.
Aminudeen said: “We do get calls from people who are enraged after seeing people eating in public and we act fast by going to the area to make arrests.”
The BBC notes that, just over two decades ago, Sharia, or Islamic law, was introduced to work alongside secular law in 12 of Nigeria’s northern states that have a majority Muslim population. Sharia does not apply to the Christian minorities living in the states.
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